MSU Bikes Commuter Challenge 2013

A well-equipped campus cyclist (Lauren Olson) tooling along a campus road.

Saddle up during National Bike Month and take the MSU Bikes Commuter Challenge! Log your commuting miles to and from MSU from May 13 – 17^th for a chance to win prizes in the following categories:

• Most Miles Ridden – Beginner
• Most Miles Ridden – Experienced
• Most Miles Ridden – Department or College
• Most Riders – Department or College
• Best Bike Commuter Story/ Photo/ Video
  

Contest Rules:

• Submit your information using this form by 5 pm May 17^th.
• This contest is for the MSU community only (valid ’msu.edu’ address is required for entry).
• Contact info is required to win prizes.
• Calculate mileage based on your daily commuting and errands only. (Weekend tours, evening training rides, etc., do NOT apply.)

Click here to submit your commute information for the week!

See our MSU’s Bike Month Events page for more bike events and activities during May: http://msubikes.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/msus-bike-month-events/

Ride of Silence 2013 for MSU – Greater Lansing

Scene from Greater Lansing Ride of Silence 2010

This year, the 10th anniversary, the Greater Lansing Ride of Silence event will again be hosted by MSU Bikes joining 300+ events annually world-wide that honors and memorializes bicyclists hit and killed or injured by motor vehicles on roadways.

New this year attendees will gather at the Wells Hall courtyard (east side of Wells Hall) on May 15th, Wednesday, from 5:15 pm but no later than 6:00 pm for important instructions and to sign-in, etc.  Come earlier to be sure you’ve signed the waiver, tied on arm-bands (black, if you know someone who was hit and killed; red, if you or someone you know was hit and injured). Participants will then roll off at 6:30 pm. The start time is being bumped earlier this year to ensure a safer return to campus in more light. Police escorts (bike patrol officers) will accompany the group through the route to help maintain safety and guide us through intersections along the route.

Route:
Our route this year will be different due to major construction on Michigan Ave. and Grand River Ave. near campus.
This is our route.

Car Parking:
The closest visitor parking lot would be the one between the International Center and the College of Engineering.  Click here for a campus map of Wells Hall; put a check in the box for Visitor Parking on the left to see all of the visitor pay lots on campus.

Many thanks to our sponsors and supporters this year:

• Tri-County Bike Association - Thanks to the generous support of the TCBA board and members this event is the official Wednesday evening ride for the club.  The TCBA Advocacy Committee provides the volunteer efforts to organize and pull it off.
• League of Michigan Bicyclists - for state-wide & local support
• Mid-MEAC – for PR and volunteer assistance
• MSU Bikes Service Center – for primary support and organizing logistics, etc.
• Velocipede Peddler - for mechanical assistance/ SAG vehicle service

Rain Date:  Saturday, May 18th.  Same time, same place, just no bells and whistles (no police escort, bagpiper, etc.)
We will post to our Facebook page by 4 pm on May 15th IF the event will be called off due to dangerous/ bad weather (lightning, thunder, deluge conditions).

Stay tuned to this web site and our Facebook group for updates and more details as the date nears.

Poster for promoting Greater Lansing RoS event.

The official website for the Ride of Silence worldwide is here.

• Photos from last year can be seen here on Facebook
• Videos can be seen here and here.

• 2013 RoS – Lansing – Handout (PDF)
• Link to poster for promoting Greater Lansing RoS event.

MSU’s Bike Month Events

May is National Bike Month!

Our bike-related events/ activities in May, 2013, which is National Bike Month:

• Lansing’s Friday Nite Fun Rides – Weekly – hosted by MSU Bikes on every Friday evening during warm riding months, meet-up at Beaumont Tower at 5:30 pm, roll-off at 5:45 pm for various destinations in the area.  Slow social ride with stop for food/ bev. at the end.  Themed rides for May starting with Tweed Ride for 1^st Friday, May 3rd then our Great Gatsby Ride on May 10th.  Facebook page for details, photos, commentary.
  
• Bike Commuting 101 Lunch n’ Learns  – Weekly -  May 21 & 30 (MSU Recycling Educational Room) will cover variety of topics from simple maintenance, emergency tips for on-road repairs, changing flats, how to dress to be comfy and safe, other safety tips, proper bike locking, etc.  Please RSVP with this online scheduler.
• Weekly Volunteer Bike Workshops – Wednesdays, Weekly – managed/ hosted by MSU Bikes in original MSU Bike Project workshop in basement of Dem Hall.  More details here.
•  MSU Bike Commuter Challenge – Week of May 13-17 – Submit your info/ mileage now!  Form will stay open for another week.  Prizes for the winners in various categories; full details here.

A well-equipped campus cyclist (Lauren Olson) tooling along a campus road.

• Greater Lansing Ride of Silence – May 15^th - hosted by MSU Bikes and the Tri-County Bicycle Association‘s Advocacy Committee.  The 10th Anniversary of a global event dedicated to honoring fellow bicyclists who’ve been hit and killed or seriously injured.  Details online here.

• MSU Bicycle to Work Breakfast – May 17^th  – On National Bicycle to Work Day, The Office of Campus Sustainability and MSU Bikes are honoring those that bicycle to work. Make the commitment to bicycle to work on May 17, 2013 and join us for a free breakfast from 8 am to 9:30 am in the large private dining room of the Brody Cafeteria. Please arrive at 8 am and enjoy free bicycle valet parking provided by Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council. Mark Haas, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, and fellow bicyclist, will give the keynote address at 8:30 am.  Please join us at the integral Bicycle to Work Breakfast, celebrating MSU students, faculty, and staff who choose to bicycle to work.  Sorry, this event is FULL.
• Lucinda Means Bicycle Advocacy Day – May 22^nd - a League of Michigan Bicyclists event traditionally hosted by MSU Bikes; due to all the construction surrounding MSU it’s now scheduled to leave the Lansing Municipal Park*.  It attracts 100+ people every year.  Details here.

Gear Up For Spring Bicycle Event

Gear up Spring Bicycle Event

On Friday, April 19th, we’ll be having a joint event with MSU Surplus. Stop in at the Bikes Service Center to buy a new or used bike, rent a bike, and get great deals on parts and accessories! Visit MSU Surplus to browse an even larger selection of refurbished used bicycles. Mechanics will be on hand at both locations.

Parts and Accessories Sale! – MSU Bikes
Up to 15% off on selected items! Includes a selection of gloves, hats, baskets, bags, tools, and parts!

Rental Bikes – MSU Bikes
We have a large selection of rentals ready to go. Get yours now before they are gone. Check out this page for more information on the rental program.

New Bikes – MSU Bikes
2013 Fuji and SEs are in stock. Get a great deal with your MSU ID. See our featured models here.

Used Bikes – MSU Bikes & MSU Surplus
Refurbished used bikes are a great deal AND they come with a free 30-day check over.

Drop your own bike off at MSU Bikes for a spring tune-up!
Get it in now and you’ll be ready to ride when the nice weather arrives.

MSU Bike-related Art Contest

Panoramic of MSU Bikes’ front show room after the reorganization. Note the blank white space above the entryway to our service area. That is where the art work will be displayed.

Announcing an MSU bike-related art contest: we reorganized our front room over the break and ended up with a big blank wall space (20 in. by 60 in.) over the doorway to our service area that is crying out for some nice MSU bike-related art. See photo below for reference. Probably best if it were flat-art but could be 3D if it weren’t too heavy and easily mountable to the concrete block wall.

Starting today please submit your art/design ideas via email to: bikes@msu.edu The winning design artist will be decided when we’ve got one and will be announced and shown here. If necessary MSU Bikes will pay for the production (printing/ laminating, etc) and installation of the winning art/ design. If we get more than one great design then we’ll likely rotate them in the space, perhaps on a flat screen monitor, who knows!?

More pics of the front room here (first few pics):  http://s794.photobucket.com/albums/yy225/msubikes/MSU%20Bikes%20Shop%20pics/

Good luck!

MSU Bike Polo Fridays

After playing on January 11, 2013 in the IM West Turf Grass Arena.

Come play bike polo in the best indoor bike polo arena in the Midwest!  Right in the middle of the MSU campus at the IM West indoor turf grass arena every Friday evening from 5 pm – 7 pm for spring semester 2013.  Unfortunately all participants/ attendees have to be MSU ID holders (students, faculty/ staff, etc.) to get into the IM facility.  Sorry. I’ll be looking for an off-campus site to open things up more.

We can provide a limited number of loaner bikes if you don’t have a bike to play on (or would rather not risk damaging your nice bike).  Helmets are recommended.  Polo mallets are also available to borrow if you don’t have your own (here are some DIY instructions for making your own mallet)

Print out and post this poster wherever you can!

Some photos from our first indoor bike polo games at the IM West indoor turf arena back in March of 2011:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150165971071057.339334.583731056&type=3

Our Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/315087938595297/

If you’re not familiar with bike polo check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc8-RMWZ99o&feature=colike

Local bike advocacy and social groups

July 27 Ride Around Town – at the new Park Lk. Rd. Burcham round-about under constrution.

Lansing’s Friday Nite Ride Around Town:  Weekly social ride starting at MSU Beaumont Tower at 5:30 pm (roll-off at 5:45 pm) during warm months of the year.  Destinations vary but are generally within 10 mi. and involve food and drink.  Speeds are low.  Dress brightly and bring lights for the ride home (which is often times getting dark).

Friends of Meridian Township Pathways:  We’re all about promoting, supporting & helping maintain the existing Meridian Township Pathway network as well as doing what we can to see more pathways get built to complete the network both adjacent to roadways and off-road corridors like the Inter-Urban Pathway.

One of the MMATC community services, Valet Bike Parking at a Great Lakes Folk Festival in years past.

Mid-Michigan Active Transportation Coalition (MMATC):  This is a diverse group of citizens from Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham counties.  It is the advocacy group of the TCBA (see below).  We joined together in 2009 to promote policies, programs, and planning which integrate active transportation choices in the Mid-Michigan community.   By doing so, we bring about positive changes in biking, walking, and transit infrastructure and to see an increase in the number of citizens who use these choices as an alternative to strictly automobile use.

Google group discussion group (where most of the action occurs):   Monthly meetings are the third Wednesday of each month from 6 – 7:300 pm at Gone Wire Cafe, 2021 East Michigan Avenue, Lansing.
Tri-County Bike Assn: The area’s largest bike club who’s members have lots of good group rides about every evening of the week.  Their DALMAC tour from MSU campus to the Mackinac Bridge is their main fundraising event of the year.

MSU Bikes Joins MSU Surplus and Recycling Team

John Bieda (R), Service Supervisor and Taylor Allen (L), student mechanic, work at the MSU Bikes Service Center on Tuesday July 17, 2012.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — MSU Bikes – Michigan State University’s one-stop shop for all things bicycles – is now part of MSU Surplus/Recycling, a move that will not only streamline its booming business but make it easier for Spartans to find and ride a bike.

The re-organization of MSU Bikes from MSU Physical Plant to Surplus/Recycling makes sense in a lot of ways, said S/R’s Kris Jolley.

“It’s going to streamline the business,” he said, “and, at the same time, allow for more access to bikes.”

Read full article here…

•  More articles about the merger:
  MSU Bikes merges with MSU Surplus/Recycling to improve repair and resale services, Capital Gains, July 25, 2012
  Face Time: Manager of MSU Bikes Service Center Tim Potter, State News, July 25, 2012

Minneapolis trip highlights – soul of the US bike industry

Test riding a Salsa Mukluk, one of the newer “fat tire” bikes in the market w/ tires that are 4″ wide. These monster tires just float over the snow or rough stuff with no need for suspension.

Melissa and John posing with a new Campagnolo Super Record EPS (electronic shifting) equipped bike.

I just realized that I hadn’t shared these photos from a trip from this past winter which gave me an incredible look into the behind-the-scenes action of the USA bike industry.  Three of us from MSU Bikes (myself, Melissa Kwiatkowski, Asst. Mgr. and John Bieda, Service Mgr.) went to two industry conferences in the Minneapolis area in February:  Quality Bike Products’ Frost Bike and Park Tool’s Tech Summit.  QBP is the largest bike parts/ accessories distributor in the USA, and Park Tools is, as most in the bike shop business know, is the leading manufacturer of bike shop tools:
http://s794.photobucket.com/albums/yy225/msubikes/FrostBike-ParkToolSummit2012/

I’ll post more pics from the very cool bike shops and other bike facilities we saw while in Minneapolis soon.

Celebrating our 5th Anniversary!

MSU Bikes team celebrating our 5th anniversary

Please join us in celebrating our 5th Anniversary this fall! And what a fall it’s been to mark our 5th year. How busy has it been you wonder? Check out these stats for the 1st 10 days of the semester:
- 300 tubes installed
- 254 tires installed
- 65 brakes adjusted
- 38 wheels replaced
- 35 chains replaced
- 34 crank arms replaced
- 25 pr. of pedals replaced
- Countless others helped with tightening handlebars, stems, seats, etc. for free by our front-room staff.
- Many others taught how to change their own flats (when we were too busy to handle more repairs)
- Sadly, hundreds of others turned away due to our shop being too full of bikes to repair for others; on the plus side, those customers were referred to the other bike shops in the area.

MSU Bike’s Commuter Challenge 2011 results

Thanks for your generous patience; the results are in!  

The first MSU Bike’s Commuter Challenge, held during National Bike to Work Week (May 16 – 20^th, 2011) saw 24 participants (plus 2 who were interested in trying it but were unable to participate).  We collected some interesting statistics and compelling commentary about their commute routes/ experiences (Here’s a link to a PDF file with that commentary and some other data from the Challenge that you might enjoy reading).

Approx. ¾ of them were experienced commuters with the remaining being beginners.  The average mileage for the week was 36 miles and for the year to date 320 miles.

The winning individual commuter in the Experienced category was Laura Carter, who works at the Main Library, who logged 90 miles for the week.  There’s a tie for 2^nd place between Mike Weigand (Plant Pathology & MSU Bikes) and Layne Cameron (University Relations) with 70 mi. each.  3^rd place goes to me, your illustrious organizer with 55 miles.

In the Beginner category Leslie Galvez wins with 60 miles, then Jane Meland (Libraries) with 27 miles followed by Hollyce Balentine in 3^rd place with 21 miles.

The winning campus department was the Library with 4 participants, 2^nd place goes to MSU Bikes (yay) with 3 participants and a 2-way tie for 2^nd place with the Cyclotron, Fisheries and Wildlife (CANR) with 2 each. 

So, now you’re wondering when do we have the awards ceremony? 

That will be on June 29^th, Wed., at noon here at MSU Bikes on our deck or inside the shop if it’s raining.  We’ll give out some cool awards for the folks named above (except myself) and some certificates for the departments.  Hope to see you here!

To those of you who did, thanks for participating!  We’ll plan on doing it again next May during National Bike to Work Week, but in the meantime keep commuting by bike to save $$, for your health and for the fun of it!

Tim Potter & Crew @ MSU Bikes

PS:  If you’re not subscribed to the MSU Bikes eNewsletter (a Yahoo group), please hit that link and consider subscribing to stay informed of bike events and other bike-related info. on campus and in the community.  Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and our newer blog here.

MSU’s 1st Indoor Bike Polo event

Come and play or watch the 1st indoor bike polo event at MSU on Mar. 3rd from 5 – 6 pm in the IM West turf-grass room (NE corner, where they play tennis, ultimate frisbee, etc.). We’ll also have use of the locker rooms/ showers as well afterwards (someone can watch the bikes). Unfortunately, other student groups have booked the room afterward therefore this will be a short but hopefully sweet event. Who knows, might even become a new MSU club sport!

Rules:

- Helmets will be required
- Everyone will need to bring their own bike (or make arrangements to borrow a green bike ahead of time)
- Front wheel spoke covers will also be required to prevent face-plants/endos
- Effective polo mallets are a good idea; bring your own
- MSU students/ faculty/ staff, remember to bring your MSU ID card to get into the facility

See these forums for info. on all the above incl. DIY instructions to make some of it.

Note to Non-MSU people:
For any non-MSU people interested in attending please RSVP here so that we can have your name on a check-in list at the door so you can get in to the event.

Here are some more pics from one of our 1st outdoor bike polo sessions on Munn Field.

Hope to see you there!

Tim